Thread by @bhweingarten

The Mueller report excludes critical exculpatory info, details pointing to attempt to entrap/frame Trump team, ignores real or perceived deficiencies of SC investigation, refuses to call into question monumental issues with investigations preceding it thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Grave issues with the Mueller report challenge the idea SC engaged in anything resembling an intellectually honest, objective, good faith investigation. Rather, it'd seem to indicate that wittingly or unwittingly, this was more smear job/de facto coverup thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

By presenting collusion section as it did (similarly to obstruction section), SC damaged the Trump administration to the greatest extent possible without affirming its criminality -- this was about POLITICAL conviction (impeachment). Mueller pulled a Comey thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller SC undermined credibility through misconduct of pivotal investigators, partisan makeup, seemingly limitless powers/heavy-handed usage of em, dubious indictments far from “collusion.” Mueller report's glaring admissions only further undermine SC thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Here are seven of the most glaring omissions from the collusion section of the Mueller report -- since it was collusion, not obstruction that was the theory from which the investigation stemmed (and w/o collusion there's nothing to obstruct) thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller Report Omission 1: No attempt to grapple w/ investigation’s troubling underpinnings. Russiagate was the fruit of a poisonous tree of epic proportions, yet if you read only Mueller report you'd know NOTHING about dubious nature of preceding probes thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller Report Omission 2: No discussion as to whether special counsel's appointment was legitimate, since it seemed to flout DOJ rules and regs. As @AndrewCMcCarthy repeatedly noted, this was a COINTEL not criminal inv, scope was ill-defined if defined thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller Report Omission 3: No discussion of SC's perceived bias. As @VDHanson noted in column after column, pervasive ties to Hillary and Obama of numerous investigators at very best created appearance of conflict. Report wholly ignores even Strzok removal thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller Report Omission 4: Skates over @GeorgePapa19 predicate for collusion. Not only is tipoff of unnamed Australian official (Downer) that sparked investigations given short thrift, but nothing re Mifsud ties to Western intel, other sketchy approaches thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller Report Omission 5: In spite of centrality of Steele dossier to @carterwpage's FISA warrant apps, dossier’s dissemination across highest levels of IC/law enf, neither Steele nor dossier are mentioned once in collusion section of the Mueller report thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller Report Omission 6: Excludes critical and relevant info re numerous actors central to treasonous Russian collusion conspiracy narrative. It is apparent that this context was intentionally excluded, making Trump campaign look as bad as possible thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Here are a handful of the Mueller report's most significant omissions regarding individual characters in the Russian collusion fiction:
-Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson never mentioned by name
-Russian lawyer Veselnitskaya never tied to Fusion GPS, Simpson thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller report significant omissions re characters in Russian collusion fiction cont'd:
-Carter Page never ID'd as cooperating w FBI in investigation to charge Russian agents, or that Russians had dismissed him as an "idiot," not a skilled treasonous asset thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller report significant omissions re characters in Russian collusion fiction cont'd:
-Felix Sater's background as major CIA, DIA, FBI asset never mentioned in context of his urgings to get Trump to Russia/consummate Trump Tower Moscow deal thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller report significant omissions re characters in Russian collusion fiction cont'd:
-Manafort tied to Russia via oligarch Oleg Deripaska, but not mentioned Deripaska was an asset for Mueller's FBI dating back to '09, ranging through collusion theory thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller report significant omissions re characters in Russian collusion fiction cont'd:
-Stone/Caputo tied to Russian Henry Oknyansky who proffered damaging info re Hillary for $. Okhnyansky's been an FBI informant for nearly two decades, but ZERO mention thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Last but not least, Trump campaign informant Stefan halper, who made contact with both @GeorgePapa19 and @carterwpage is never mentioned by name in the collusion section of the Mueller report. Why? thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Mueller Report Omission 7: Raises potential campaign finance violations re Trump-Russia, not Clinton-Russia. Mueller suggests Trump Tower mtg could constitute legal infraction, theory he uses matches to a tee Hillary/Steele dossier. ZERO discussion of it thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

To reiterate: SC appears to have purposely excluded details pointing to attempt to frame Trump campaign by doctoring Trump-Russia collusion narrative/entrapping campaign members, in spite of fact there was no collusion, ample evidence pointing other way thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

To reiterate: Mueller report simply ignored the real or perceived deficiencies of the special counsel’s investigation. It also refused to call into question any of the defects associated with the investigations that preceded it thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Takeaways challenge idea that the SC engaged in anything resembling an intellectually honest, objective, and good faith investigation. Rather, it would seem to indicate that wittingly or unwittingly, this was more politicized smear job and de facto coverup thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Although “collusion” was starting point for SC investigation, when Mueller team found none it nevertheless proceeded to obstruction. But there was nothing to obstruct. Mueller SC could've ended report at Vol I because absent Vol I there could be no Vol 2 thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

Again, by presenting the collusion section as it did, similarly to the obstruction section, the counsel damaged the Trump administration to the greatest extent possible without affirming its criminality. It seems that Mueller pulled a Comey thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…

We must have a thorough investigation of the investigators. Indeed, justice and the preservation of our Republic demand it. The growing cacophony of attacks on Attorney General William Barr are a testament to it thefederalist.com/2019/04/23/7-g…